wgeddings

I like Batman and I like DCU animation usually. I'm a long time comic fan too. However, this is a reboot I think no one asked for and certainly not worth it. I assume it is set in the 40's or 50's but the whole "noir" thing falls flat. Animation is acceptable but the stories never really connect. Harping on a character being a lesbian just for the sake of having a gay character is also sour. The race and gender flipping for the sake of saying they did is just a sour taste. I can see why HBO/Warner dumped it.

Just for clarity, not all gender/race changes have to ruin shows. Best example is Marvel's Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. There, they made some big changes to characters and origins but did it in a manner that kept what was important or actually improved on it.

Watch reruns of Batman:Animated Series and skip this.

This was a pretty standard "rogue agent" or "agency wants to eliminate the agent to cover its bad actions" film with the typical hard to believe action sequences. What makes it special was Chris Evan's villain here. He chews the scenery like Shatner on speed and his scenes just shine. He obviously wants to get away the good guy Capt America image so really plays up the villainy here. He is believable throughly dis-likeable. No redeeming qualities or qualms about not really being evil. The kind of character you love to hate and just cannot wait to see his plots fail (hopefully).

Ryan Gosling was okay but although he plays action heroes, I just seem him as that. Billy Bob Thornton is mostly wasted in the film.

After lots of crummy entries in the Star Wars sagas, this was redemption. Is it geared for kids? Is it geared for adults? Maybe to both. Was The Goonies for kids? Goonies was a kids movie that adults could enjoy in my opinion and that is what this was too. Calling it Goonies Star Wars is right. It is also like most of the sci-fi I grew up with - Robert A Heinlein's books, Asimov and many others tended to have a young protagonist(s). Newer things with young protagonists tend to make the kids either too stupid, too smart, too lucky or whatever. This series let them be kids and let the story carry them along. I never they had "plot armor" or only succeeded because it was required by the story instead of logic. The droid, SM-33 was a wonderful addition who was not over-shadowing nor annoyingly human-like with beeps.

I am avoiding spoilers because watching the story unfold and plot twists make it good. Jude Law does a great job. It is not about mystic beliefs, Jedi, warrior ethos or any of the things (though I did like "The Mandolorian") but it was an old fashioned sci-fi adventure.